Okay, so this is a little late… but 1996 is the first year I kept (sporadic) track of what I read, mainly during the time I was living in Berlin. This is some commentary (on the books from that year that I can still remember…).Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks, 10/01/1996 (again) Excession, Iain M. Banks, 29/10/1996

I love Iain M. Banks’ work, and these two novels are among his best. Consider Phlebas is the first Culture novel, and while it has some rough edges, it’s an excellent introduction. I love the fact that Banks critiques this utopian creation from the very start. Excession is probably my favorite of the later Culture books, and right now I have an urge to read it again…

One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 01/1996 (again)

An utterly fantastic masterpiece. One of the best books I’ve read. Totally absorbing and compelling, and with an amazingly powerful kick.

I don’t actually remember any of these particularly well at this point. All I remember is liking them, and being impressed by the language and the atmosphere of almost complete bleakness.

Timebends, Arthur Miller, 25/03/1996

Arthur Miller’s autobiography. I’m a big fan of his, and I really liked this book—but, ten years later, I find I can remember almost nothing in terms of details. I do remember being strongly moved by what he wrote about Marilyn Monroe (although I have no idea whether that would move me in a similar fashion now).

I don’t enjoy reading plays. I find it quite hard to read them (or screenplays), and they don’t come to life for me the way prose does. Still, some plays are worth the effort, and these are three of them. I studied both Hamlet and Death Of A Salesman, and love them both. I read Long Day’s Journey Into Night on Emilie’s recommendation, and don’t consider it quite on the same level, but am aware that this may be due to the fact that I never pored over it like the other two.

Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis, 29/04/1996 (Again)

A perfectly-titled work. Minimalist in many ways, and for me it has a really strong sense of the desert about it. The contrast between this and the superior American Psycho might echo rather accurately the contrast between Los Angeles and New York.

The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, 07/05/1996 (Again)

Another masterpiece. Fantastically well-written (and in this case I don’t care that I can’t define what that means… I’m willing to hold up this work as the definition if necessary), with dialogue and a prose style rarely matched since. Another one of my all-time favorite books.

Goodbye To Berlin, Christopher Isherwood, 28/05/1996

Sadly, I can remember very little about this. I do recall that Isherwood’s Berlin and my Berlin had very little in common, or so it seemed to me. His Berlin was becoming increasingly claustrophobic, whereas I experienced mine as expanding. I also recall that I thought it was well worth reading.

Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich, 04/07/1996 (Again)

Another book I need to re-read. This is Illich’s critique of modern schooling methods, and of school itself as an institution, and it is a powerful and compelling one.

The Hitch-hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams, 14/07/1996 (Again) The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe, Douglas Adams, 15/07/1996 (Again) Life, The Universe, And Everything, Douglas Adams, 15/07/1996 (Again)

Hilarious and brilliant.

Vurt, Jeff Noon, 04/11/1996

I’m not sure how much recognition Jeff Noon got for this novel, or the rest of the series, but it probably wasn’t enough. A quite different and unique take on cyberpunk (so much so that it might not fit the category at all).

Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh, 26/11/1996

By turns very appalling and very funny, Welsh’s novel about gritty, drug-centered life in Glasgow is powerfully evocative—often of places you never, ever want to go, but a tour de force nonetheless.

Writing these comments ten years later tells me that I really need to get it together to write a review of every book I read immediately after I read it…

Since I have it, here’s a list of the books I read between January and November, 1996:

Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks, 10/01/1996 (again)

The State Of The Art, Iain M. Banks, 12/01/1996

The Game Players Of Titan, Philip K. Dick, 01/1996

Eon, Greg Bear, 01/1996

The Informers, Bret Easton Ellis, 01/1996

One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 01/1996 (again)

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